The courtyard with two different privacy problems
Every change below is put into the plan and the whole model is run again. That is why a pergola's winter cost shows up here without anybody having written it down, and why the cheapest thing that works is allowed to win.
Reading at
Read for an hour
What it feels like is18.1°F over— 96.9°F against at most 78.8°F
An hour is long enough for a few degrees to matter.
Privacy exposure is6 over— 51 / 100 against at most 45
Settling in takes not feeling observed.
Confidence low (49%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.
A second seat 19.7 ft north-west improves things by 21 points without solving any single limit outright.
Ranked by what solves the actual limit with the least effort, not by the biggest number.
Not offered, and why
A 9.8 ft umbrella fixes what it feels like.
A 9.8 feet canopy at about 7.5 feet, tilted toward the low sun.
+6 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
A shade sail over the seating fixes what it feels like.
A sail about 16.4 feet by 13.1 feet, set at about 9.2 feet and angled to shed water.
+9 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
A deciduous tree 16.4 ft south-east of the seat fixes what it feels like.
A medium deciduous tree planted 16.4 feet to the south-east, grown to about 26 feet, with a crown roughly 19.7 feet across.
+2 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
A pergola with open slats fixes what it feels like.
A pergola about 13.1 feet square at 8.5 feet with open slats, slats running roughly south-west.
+9 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
An adjustable louvred roof fixes what it feels like.
A louvred roof about 13.1 feet square at 8.5 feet, blades running south-west and closable.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
Horizontal fins above the opening fixes what it feels like.
A run of fixed horizontal fins projecting about 2.3 feet from House, set above head height. Geometry does the work: high summer sun is cut, low winter sun passes under, and the view out is barely touched.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A 6.8 ft screen 9.1 ft from the seat fixes privacy exposure.
A screen 6.8 feet high and about 7.2 feet wide, standing 9.1 feet from the seat on the line to East upstairs window.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
An evergreen hedge to about 6.8 ft fixes privacy exposure.
A dense evergreen hedge grown to about 6.8 feet and 7.9 feet along, on the line to East upstairs window. It reads as garden rather than barrier, and it will take several seasons to do the job.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A tree between the seat and East upstairs window fixes privacy exposure.
One multi-stemmed tree grown to about 23 feet, set roughly a third of the way toward East upstairs window. Interrupting a downward sightline needs height, not length, and a single crown in the right place does what a whole run of fence cannot reach.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
A second seat 19.7 ft north-west improves things by 21 points without solving any single limit outright.
Put two chairs 19.7 feet to the north-west and leave the main table where it is. The point is not to fix this spot but to stop needing it at the hour it does not work.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Two 8.2 ft parasols instead of one improves things by 19 points without solving any single limit outright.
Two parasols about 8.2 feet across, set 7.2 feet apart along the table. Between them they cover a rectangle, which is the shape a table actually is.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
A 11.5 ft awning improves things by 12 points without solving any single limit outright.
A folding-arm awning projecting 11.5 feet from the house wall at about 8.5 feet, retracted out of season.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
A solid canopy over the seating improves things by 15 points without solving any single limit outright.
A solid roof about 11.2 feet above the seating, 13.1 feet by 11.5 feet, guttered on the low edge. Unlike fabric it works in rain, and unlike a pergola it takes the winter light too.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
A deciduous climber on tensioned wires improves things by 5 points without solving any single limit outright.
Wires strung about 8.5 feet above the seating with a vigorous deciduous climber trained across them. In leaf it shades like a light pergola; bare, it gives back most of the winter sun a solid roof would have kept.
It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.
Move the table 6.6 ft north-west does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Slide the seating about 6.6 feet toward the north-west and change nothing else.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Two low shielded lights instead of one high one does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Add a pair of shielded 200 lumen fixtures at knee height near the seating, so the useful light is where people are rather than thrown across the garden.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Raise the seating 3 ft does not move this in any way worth the effort.
A raised platform lifting the seat about 3 feet. It clears low boundaries, reaches faster air, and it works both ways: what you can see over, you can be seen over.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Add 1.5 ft of trellis to Existing side fence does not move this in any way worth the effort.
An open trellis panel on top of Existing side fence, taking it from 5.9 feet to 7.4 feet. Open trellis blocks a sightline at an angle while letting light and air through, which a solid board does not.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A paler paving does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Replace Courtyard with a paler paving of similar mass. The surface itself runs cooler underfoot; the trade is that more light bounces back up at a seated person.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Relay it as a permeable surface does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Relay Courtyard as permeable paving or resin-bound gravel over an open sub-base. Water goes down instead of sideways, so the spot dries hours earlier after rain and stops holding the film that makes it slippery and green.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
A ventilated timber deck instead does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Replace Courtyard with a ventilated timber deck. Heavy paving charges all afternoon and radiates back until well after dark, which is why an evening terrace can feel hotter than the air. A light deck over an air gap is done within the hour.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.
Take up the paving and plant it does not move this in any way worth the effort.
Lift Courtyard and plant it. Nothing else on this list moves surface temperature as far: paving in full sun sits twenty degrees or more above the air, while planted ground transpires and typically sits at or below it. It is also the only change here that gets better rather than worse over ten years.
It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.